Although in the performance in front of the students didn't go very well as the lines became mixed up and we repeated bits of it a lot. I feel the actual performance went much better. After we didn't so as well, I felt really anxious that the performance would go bad so we had line runs before the performance which went better then before so I gained a little more confidence however when we were standing ready to go on, I felt anxious again.
I believe that I improved through rehearsals giving my lines as to begin with they were dead and dull but I think I managed to make them interesting and even interact with my fellow actors. I believe I successfully used Gestus with my politician character as I was standing up straight and stiff, very proud with my chin slightly in the air which contrasted with my member of society character who was more free and relaxed. I also was able to change my voice as a higher member of society would talk very proper with very good English, However I believe I could still work on my voice for the member of society as it was very similar to my own.
I believe together, our company did very well playing off each other with their lines but if we were to do it again I feel that we could play on this even more- although we did massively improve from our first rehearsal. I think my best line was the one I have in response to Nairacs as we laughed with each other and were very interactive.
Even though this was a hard script as I felt there wasn't much to do with the lines, I was proved wrong by Demi- who gave every line with enthusiasm and emotion so I feel that next time I need to let go a bit more, relax my anxiety and give the line more freely.
Overall, I felt the performance went much better than anticipated and I enjoyed learning about Brecht and exploring politics through Theatre.
Thursday, 12 December 2013
A copy of the script for the devised toilet scene.
Michelle Gove's Bathroom.
R K and S on as sinks.
R: Imagine.
K: Ok?
S: A bathroom.
RKS: Is it just like yours?
K and S off.
R: This is the bathroom of Michelle Gove.
J and E enter on opposite sides. They both wash their hands and fix their hair then sit down.
K and S enter as toilet and toilet brush.
E: God that stinks!
S: What did she eat?
R: It was pasta I think.
E: Having a bad day are you? All that stress and pain is getting to you I can see it in your eyes. It's aging you slowly. As of lately you've turned so bitter. I saw you earlier...
J gets up and E follows her as she observes S who is busking.
E: You saw that poor boy begging for money, and you god damn well knew you had twenty quid in your pocket. But you were too selfish to fork out. That's the thing about you politicians, you're all selfish. The sooner you realize that the better.
J walks past S and circles E's chair to return to her own. R sits in in E's chair and E becomes sink.
R: I saw you this morning at the referendum, you were so eager to sign that policy for raising the grade boundaries. You never used to be like this.
K comes on. R and J sit up straighter.
K: Right. We are at the final stage of raising the UK's educational grade boundaries for core subjects for high school students. All those for?
S raises J's hand.
K: All those against? Thank you politicians the grade boundaries will rise this autumn.
E and K swap, K becomes sink. R becomes toilet. S sits in E's chair.
S: She doesn't look too good.
E: She had a bad day, she can't flush this away!
K: But she does deserve a good day doesn't she?
R: Yeah, this is meant to be relaxing, you're not really helping...
S: Do you remember me? Didn't think you would. I was 1 of 1000's. It's our lives that you're ruining, our futures! We are the future.
S K R E sound scape: We are the future.
S K R E surround J on chair shouting.
J: Stop! It's not my fault ok?
J gets up and washes her hands.
E: Listen, I know you've had a hard week. You're a politician and you have to be brave. You have to show the people you are in charge. So, keep your chin up, put a smile on that face, and lets take another day.
E and J circle E's chair. S R K bombard J as paparazzi.
S: Michelle! How do you feel about putting up the grade boundaries?
R: Michelle! Do you know you're ruining lives?
L: Michelle! Do you have anything to say?
All: Michelle michelle!
J: Leave me alone. I'm a human, just like you.
J and E exit.
R S K return to sink format.
R: Imagine.
S: Ok?
K: A bathroom.
RSK: Just like everyone else's.
R K and S on as sinks.
R: Imagine.
K: Ok?
S: A bathroom.
RKS: Is it just like yours?
K and S off.
R: This is the bathroom of Michelle Gove.
J and E enter on opposite sides. They both wash their hands and fix their hair then sit down.
K and S enter as toilet and toilet brush.
E: God that stinks!
S: What did she eat?
R: It was pasta I think.
E: Having a bad day are you? All that stress and pain is getting to you I can see it in your eyes. It's aging you slowly. As of lately you've turned so bitter. I saw you earlier...
J gets up and E follows her as she observes S who is busking.
E: You saw that poor boy begging for money, and you god damn well knew you had twenty quid in your pocket. But you were too selfish to fork out. That's the thing about you politicians, you're all selfish. The sooner you realize that the better.
J walks past S and circles E's chair to return to her own. R sits in in E's chair and E becomes sink.
R: I saw you this morning at the referendum, you were so eager to sign that policy for raising the grade boundaries. You never used to be like this.
K comes on. R and J sit up straighter.
K: Right. We are at the final stage of raising the UK's educational grade boundaries for core subjects for high school students. All those for?
S raises J's hand.
K: All those against? Thank you politicians the grade boundaries will rise this autumn.
E and K swap, K becomes sink. R becomes toilet. S sits in E's chair.
S: She doesn't look too good.
E: She had a bad day, she can't flush this away!
K: But she does deserve a good day doesn't she?
R: Yeah, this is meant to be relaxing, you're not really helping...
S: Do you remember me? Didn't think you would. I was 1 of 1000's. It's our lives that you're ruining, our futures! We are the future.
S K R E sound scape: We are the future.
S K R E surround J on chair shouting.
J: Stop! It's not my fault ok?
J gets up and washes her hands.
E: Listen, I know you've had a hard week. You're a politician and you have to be brave. You have to show the people you are in charge. So, keep your chin up, put a smile on that face, and lets take another day.
E and J circle E's chair. S R K bombard J as paparazzi.
S: Michelle! How do you feel about putting up the grade boundaries?
R: Michelle! Do you know you're ruining lives?
L: Michelle! Do you have anything to say?
All: Michelle michelle!
J: Leave me alone. I'm a human, just like you.
J and E exit.
R S K return to sink format.
R: Imagine.
S: Ok?
K: A bathroom.
RSK: Just like everyone else's.
Bertolt Brecht
I think its easy to say who Bertolt Brecht was and what his advances were in the world of theatre however I think everyone has their own idea on how facts about Brecht led him to make his ideas on theatre.
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, theatre director, and Marxist. He had very contrasting views on theatre to that of Stanislavsky. Brecht wanted to change the ordinary cliche view on theatre and have the audience captivated.
Being a Marxist suggests the most significant characteristic a human has is creativity. The V effect signals the idea that workers are separated from their work due to capitalism. So in the theatre people aren't in control of their lives so outside the theatre they would want to be.
Brecht was a communist and believed in a left wing society (which I previously explained in an earlier post) and this challenged Aristotle ideas- the Aristotle ideas were based on believing in naturalism and that the audience would have to suspend their belief, which is where the rules of acts and scenes came into theatre.
This also lead to Epic Theatre. Theatre should not be linear whilst breaking the 4th wall reminding the actors and audience of who they are. This was achieved by the use of: harsh lighting, no make up, cheap music, costume changes on stage and no climax.
This would in turn, distance the audience from their emotions, completed contrasting to naturalistic theatre. By using projections and signs he showed them what was happening on stage, also using songs to divide up action and let the audience see the actors warm up, blurring the boundaries between life and theatre. Brecht hated the idea of the 4th wall and was against anything that promoted capitalist ideas. He was completely against the idea of the audience sharing emotions with the actors, or the actors sharing emotions with the audience.
Brecht wanted to leave the audience filled with questions and theories, such as 'Do we turn more right wing in hard times?' Brecht was able to alter humans using the essence of montage as it doesn't require a journey, more like:
Statement/Argument/Statement.
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, theatre director, and Marxist. He had very contrasting views on theatre to that of Stanislavsky. Brecht wanted to change the ordinary cliche view on theatre and have the audience captivated.
Being a Marxist suggests the most significant characteristic a human has is creativity. The V effect signals the idea that workers are separated from their work due to capitalism. So in the theatre people aren't in control of their lives so outside the theatre they would want to be.
Brecht was a communist and believed in a left wing society (which I previously explained in an earlier post) and this challenged Aristotle ideas- the Aristotle ideas were based on believing in naturalism and that the audience would have to suspend their belief, which is where the rules of acts and scenes came into theatre.
This also lead to Epic Theatre. Theatre should not be linear whilst breaking the 4th wall reminding the actors and audience of who they are. This was achieved by the use of: harsh lighting, no make up, cheap music, costume changes on stage and no climax.
This would in turn, distance the audience from their emotions, completed contrasting to naturalistic theatre. By using projections and signs he showed them what was happening on stage, also using songs to divide up action and let the audience see the actors warm up, blurring the boundaries between life and theatre. Brecht hated the idea of the 4th wall and was against anything that promoted capitalist ideas. He was completely against the idea of the audience sharing emotions with the actors, or the actors sharing emotions with the audience.
Brecht wanted to leave the audience filled with questions and theories, such as 'Do we turn more right wing in hard times?' Brecht was able to alter humans using the essence of montage as it doesn't require a journey, more like:
Statement/Argument/Statement.
'Hungry man, reach for the book: it is a weapon.' Bertolt Brecht.
Sunday, 1 December 2013
Monday 18th November 2013
This lesson was given to us for preparation of our protests, due to happen the following week.
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As I have previously said our protest was on animal testing- a subject we all felt passionate about.
The plan:
As our protest would have to last we decided to split it into three segments of fifteen minutes and repeat this 3 times.
- We would start by saying three shocking facts our statistics whilst standing on chairs to get the audiences attention.
- We would then entwine with the audience repeating our facts with straight faces almost as if we were manikins.
- After we started our beautician performance. Kate and myself acted as society, blind beauticians who didn't see the problem with testing on animals. We would rub make up products on each others face and arms while commenting on how 'okay' this is, because its been tested. At this time Abdhi would also be a beautician but she would act as a person very aware of the consequences to the harm the make up would cause the animals. She would read out shocking statistics as Kate and I pretended not to here.
- To get the audience more involved we thought of having a quiz including questions such as
'How many animals are killed a year from animal testing?'
'How much money is spent on testing animals each year?'
To gain a response we would have sweets as a reward for people joining in while making them aware of the facts/statistics. - We would then stand back on our chairs like in the beginning and start a sound scape with the same fact from the beginning getting louder and louder until we are heard over the mumble of talking. Ending with us sinking onto our chairs like manikins.
- This would ideally last for fifteen minutes and then be repeated another two times.
During our protest we would have shocking pictures (such as the ones above) around where we were performing and maybe even have some stuck to our bodies so people can actually see the effects of animal testing on animals.
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